-
If you enjoy the forum please consider supporting it by signing up for a NES Membership The benefits pay for the membership many times over.
-
Be sure to enter the NES/Pioneer Valley Arms February Giveaway ***Smith & Wesson SD9VE 9MM***
What is the worst disaster New England has faced?
- Thread starter TonyDedo
- Start date
Knob Creek
NES Member
1938 Hurricane
+1 , wasn't around tho.
![[wink]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/002.gif "Wink [wink]")
calsdad
NES Member
In my experience - the ice storm of 2008 and the Blizzard of 78 are the two worst. But the thing with New England is - it's really hard to get a "disaster" that affects the whole area.
I see people mentioning flooding - but even during those storms last year or the year before when VT got slammed - all that was to me was a bunch of rain. Pretty much the same with all the hurricanes we've gotten over the years.
During the 2008 ice storm - things in my area and further north were pretty screwed up for days - and power was out for quite a while (5 days for me) - but get in the car and go down to the 128 belt - and things were fine, except for the fact that there wasn't a generator to be had within 100 miles.
I remember the Blizzard of 78 as being pretty screwed up - roads were not plowed for days - and there were people everywhere riding snowmobiles around. We took off on cross country skis - and got around to get things done.
My personal definition of disaster is something where stuff is all broken and busted up (think houses washing into the ocean) - and people are getting killed. So by that definition even the ice storm and 78 blizzard aren't 'disasters' for the vast majority of people - they're just a really big pain in the ass.
To me most New England "disasters" are pretty much localized - which also means if you pay attention you can situate yourself to avoid them relatively easily.
I see people mentioning flooding - but even during those storms last year or the year before when VT got slammed - all that was to me was a bunch of rain. Pretty much the same with all the hurricanes we've gotten over the years.
During the 2008 ice storm - things in my area and further north were pretty screwed up for days - and power was out for quite a while (5 days for me) - but get in the car and go down to the 128 belt - and things were fine, except for the fact that there wasn't a generator to be had within 100 miles.
I remember the Blizzard of 78 as being pretty screwed up - roads were not plowed for days - and there were people everywhere riding snowmobiles around. We took off on cross country skis - and got around to get things done.
My personal definition of disaster is something where stuff is all broken and busted up (think houses washing into the ocean) - and people are getting killed. So by that definition even the ice storm and 78 blizzard aren't 'disasters' for the vast majority of people - they're just a really big pain in the ass.
To me most New England "disasters" are pretty much localized - which also means if you pay attention you can situate yourself to avoid them relatively easily.
calsdad
NES Member
Excellent point - "disasters" are relative.
calsdad
NES Member
That's a good one. If something like that happened in this day and age it would be a HUGE disaster - what with the massive amounts of people - who are dependent on modern farming methods - and a JIT food distribution system.
Yeah, fuhgettaboutit. It would be the ultimate test + natural selection. Leeches wouldn't even see it coming until their stomachs can't be filled with McDonald's anymore OR Walmart closing. Thoughts like this just make me want to stop and get off this Earth.
vickers
NES Member
Hurricane Bob from 1991 was pretty bad. I think only like a category 3 but it did a lot of damage and was one of the costliest hurricanes in New England history. We had a summer house in Wareham and that area got spanked pretty bad. Our house was about 200 yards back from the bay but several surges came down the street and crashed through the garage door and flooded the basement with 5 feet of water. There were boats from the bay in our neighbors yard.
namedpipes
NES Member
The Great Molasses Flood of 1919
21 dead, 150 injured.
Molasses clocked at 35mph in January.
http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/historical/a/molasses_flood.htm
Some say you can still smell the molasses on a hot summer day.
Sent from my chimney using smoke signals.
21 dead, 150 injured.
Molasses clocked at 35mph in January.
http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/historical/a/molasses_flood.htm
Some say you can still smell the molasses on a hot summer day.
Sent from my chimney using smoke signals.
Hurricane of 1938 death toll was around 600.
My grandmother took the following picture of post storm flooding in her Central Mass town. The water in the pic is around 20 feet above normal. ALL the bridges into town were destroyed -- town was isolated by road until they were rebuilt. Their fire station washed away.
My grandmother took the following picture of post storm flooding in her Central Mass town. The water in the pic is around 20 feet above normal. ALL the bridges into town were destroyed -- town was isolated by road until they were rebuilt. Their fire station washed away.
We've had Indian wars , a revolutionary war , a smallpox plague , a flu pandemic , a religious killing of heretics in Salem , ... A crapload of hurricanes , and blizzards.
Civil war and plague are still possibilities. So is famine if the lights or petrol go out. Plus we've got a major tectonic plate fault line waiting to blow , a tsunami potential pointed at us from the Canary Islands , a reactor in Seabrook , and Jihadi shitheads seem fond of Boston.
Civil war and plague are still possibilities. So is famine if the lights or petrol go out. Plus we've got a major tectonic plate fault line waiting to blow , a tsunami potential pointed at us from the Canary Islands , a reactor in Seabrook , and Jihadi shitheads seem fond of Boston.
namedpipes
NES Member
At least for me, that was no disaster.
I was "stuck" at home with power, a full fridge, tv and parents that were stuck at work. Granted it was tough on some others.
loneranger
NES Member
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2010
- Messages
- 1,801
- Likes
- 352
Great flu Pandemic 1918-1919
The first recorded cases of virulent influenza in the United States occured in Boston. On August 27th, 1918 several sailors at the Commonwealth Pier reported sick with influenza. By the next day, there were eight new cases. On the third day, August 29th, there were 58 cases. These men were sent to the Chelsea Naval Hospital; from this hospital, the disease spread rapidly into the city of Boston and the rest of the state...
In Boston, however, state officials were correct in assuming that the situation had begun to improve slightly. By late October, the city's death rate had probably dropped to fifty deaths from influenza per day. If true, this would have been a dramatic improvement as the PHS estimated that there had been at least 4,000 deaths from influenza between September 8th and October 25th alone.
...As ground-zero for the pandemic, Massachusett's became a focal point for post-pandemic studies. In the late 1920's, to PHS statisticians estimated that between September 1, 1918 and January 16, 1919, approximately 45,000 people died from influenza in Massachusetts alone. Horrific as these figures are, many historians believe that the number of influenza-related deaths in Massachusetts during this period was probably higher.
http://www.flu.gov/pandemic/history/1918/your_state/northeast/massachusetts/
The first recorded cases of virulent influenza in the United States occured in Boston. On August 27th, 1918 several sailors at the Commonwealth Pier reported sick with influenza. By the next day, there were eight new cases. On the third day, August 29th, there were 58 cases. These men were sent to the Chelsea Naval Hospital; from this hospital, the disease spread rapidly into the city of Boston and the rest of the state...
In Boston, however, state officials were correct in assuming that the situation had begun to improve slightly. By late October, the city's death rate had probably dropped to fifty deaths from influenza per day. If true, this would have been a dramatic improvement as the PHS estimated that there had been at least 4,000 deaths from influenza between September 8th and October 25th alone.
...As ground-zero for the pandemic, Massachusett's became a focal point for post-pandemic studies. In the late 1920's, to PHS statisticians estimated that between September 1, 1918 and January 16, 1919, approximately 45,000 people died from influenza in Massachusetts alone. Horrific as these figures are, many historians believe that the number of influenza-related deaths in Massachusetts during this period was probably higher.
http://www.flu.gov/pandemic/history/1918/your_state/northeast/massachusetts/
2011 Halloween Nor'Easter.....8 days with no power
